Welcome to the Team: Sloane Ferenchak
Last Updated: July 26, 2022
As part of our #WeLoveConsent program, DanceSafe is welcoming Sloane Ferenchak as a resident expert contractor!
Sloane has provided services to DanceSafe as an intern for the #WeLoveConsent program since 2018, creating educational materials, designing the soon-to-be released Bystander Intervention Training Program, assisting in the planning of outreach events, and writing #WLC toolbox series blog posts. Sloane has also been a panel member on the intersections of consent, sex, and substance use at international drug war conferences on #WLC’s behalf. Sloane has volunteered with DanceSafe since early 2018.
Sloane first became involved in harm reduction at Boston University when she joined Students for Sensible Drug Policy. She received her Bachelors of the Arts in Psychology with a minor in Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies from Binghamton University where she was a research assistant in the Interdisciplinary Research Lab in Human Sexuality. She was also a member of SSDP and eventually moved from Community Outreach Coordinator to Vice President of the Binghamton SSDP student board. During this time, Sloane became passionate about understanding the pathologization of sexuality and substance use and providing services for those impacted. After graduation, she continued to provide harm reduction peer education work as a sexual health educator at the teen clinic at Planned Parenthood and as a board member of the Psychedelic Society of Western NY during its founding year. As part of PSWNY’s Sanctuary, Sloane gained experience in providing psychedelic peer assistance, combining her understanding of harm reduction and emotional support.
Sloane has combined her passions for sexual health, mental health, and drug war activism in her pursuit of a career in mental, sexual, and community health. She currently has her Masters in Clinical Psychology from Widener University and is working on her Doctorate of Clinical Psychology, Masters of Education in Human Sexuality, and Doctorate in Human Sexuality from Widener University. Her goal is to become a licensed psychotherapist and AASECT-certified sex therapist specializing in work with erotically marginalized clients and clients impacted by the drug war and/or substance use. She currently provides trauma-informed individual harm reduction psychotherapy as part of the Medically Assisted Treatment Program at AIDS Care Group as a psychology intern. She also co-created and co-facilitates a Sexuality in Recovery therapy group and has also recently worked as an interviewer for sexual violence survivors in legal cases. Sloane is passionate about harm reduction and reducing the stigma around sexuality and substance use through anti-oppressive practice and activism that acknowledges both the risks and rewards of stigmatized behaviors.
Sloane has been working with the WeLoveConsent program since its creation, and is excited to be able to use her training in mental health, sexuality, harm reduction, and trauma to further grow the program. Her dedication to expanding her understanding of the intersectionality between various justice and health-related issues, as well as her extensive background in applying this dedication, makes her an extremely valuable asset to the DanceSafe Team!